1932: Grand Hotel

Welcome in, dear reader. We have your reservation right here. Best room in the house—ocean view. If you'll just take a seat over there, the porter will be right with you. We hope you enjoy your stay.

Life updates! Due to our (unpaid) sabbatical, we've left a lot of ground to cover. Jake graduated from UNC Chapel Hill with a B.A. in Psychology and a minor in Spanish for the Business Professions, and then immediately decided he hadn't had enough of school. He's now four weeks into his first semester at Meredith where he's pursuing an MBA. Kate completed her training rotations at Appian and has been promoted to Solution Engineer. She ran her first 5K, got really into reading Brandon Sanderson fantasy novels, and has joined the Falls Church Community Band. Together, they recently celebrated their three year anniversary and their third blog post. Now, ladies and gentlemen, the moment you've been waiting for - the pride of Mount Vernon - movieeee reviewwwwwwww!!!!!  

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"Grand Hotel. People come....... people go....... nothing ever happens." NOT! This witticism comes not three minutes into the film, and again right at the end (with a whole lot of somethings in the middle). Remarked by some modern critics as an early Ocean's Eleven for its star-studded cast, Grand Hotel won Best Picture in 1932, the only film ever to accomplish this feat with no nominations in any other categories. You may recognize such names as Joan Crawford, John and Lionel Barrymore (grandfather and great-uncle of Drew Barrymore (child actor in E.T. (movie about an alien))), Greta Garbo, Jean Hersholt (half-uncle of Leslie Neilsen, aviation superstar) and Wallace Beery (whose contract with MGM required that he was paid $1 more than any other actor at the studio, making him the highest paid actor in the world at the time. His salary is equivalent to 1.25 million today).

The film follows five characters: 

• Baron Felix von Geigern (referred to by his family and us as Flix, and by the general public and you as Baron), a professional thief strapped for cash, looking for a target for his thievery and his manly wiles. 
• Grusinskaya (gɾu'sɪnskaɪə for nerds), a professional ballerina with a flair for the dramatic who may be past the pinnacle of her career. Among her coterie is Pimenov, the ballet master, and Suzette, her lady’s maid. 
• Director Preysing, an imposing businessman who heads a large mop rag company about to go under, willing to do anything not to be wrung dry.
• Otto Kringelein, a terminally ill bookkeeper in Preysing's company who is spending his savings to make his last days as lavish as possible, ready to share all the trims and trappings of Grand Hotel life with everyone he encounters. 
• Flaemmchen (or Miss Flaemm), a stenographer seeking employment from anyone through any means in any typeface. Watch out, boys! This spunky flirt is looking for a drink, a dance, a dime, and your mother’s maiden name.

We felt the Academy’s choice this year was a better crafted plot and a more moving story than any winner we’ve viewed so far. You feel as if you're practically on the emotional roller coaster with the characters. AHHHHHH!! The lows of Grusinskaya’s despair in love and in her career, to the highs of phone call snippets where we learn of the porter’s wife’s pregnancy, trip to the hospital, and eventual delivery. Kringelein wallows in his symptoms and sorrows but finds new joy in the budding of a wholesome friendship with Flaemmchen, resolving to make the most of whatever time he has left. 

Frankly, I (Jake) think this whole thing could have been improved with the inclusion of Budapest, but the movie held its own despite the fact. Or maybe California. There are lots of great hotels—but only one Grand one. Join us next week (!!!!) for our review of Cavalcade, a film described as “the picture of our generation” that no one has ever heard of—except the you from a week in the future, of course. Ask them what stocks to invest in. Go win the lotto. 

Auf wiedersehen! (The eponymous Hotel was in Germany, by the way. We definitely mentioned that).

-Jake Langendorfer and Kate Fallschurcher

P.S.: We encourage you to leave comments on our blog like it's still 2009. Share thoughts on the post, movie recs, or your newest niche hobby obsession. Let's start a little community :)